Love's Aftermath
by VulpineSnow
Summary: So long after Cosmo's death, and yet Tails still mourns, eve as his thoughts drift to another love lost. Then, an unwelcome visitor appears... Horrible summary, I know.


Love's Aftermath

Disclaimer: If I owned any of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, would I be writing here? No, no I would not. Therefore, I do not own it.

If I did own it, Tails would have much better luck with romance, either with Cosmo surviving in Sonic-X or Fiona –the real one, not the robot- being regretful for both being a backstabber and hurting Tails –in fact, she would actually give a damn about him- in the Archie comics. Heck, I'd even pair him with Bunnie or his dear "Aunt Sally"! _**Tails!! Needs!! LOVE!!**_

Anyway, this idea popped into my head when I finally noticed how… utterly unsuccessful… Tails' love life is. Feeling sorry for the fictional little guy, I decided to write THIS!

* * *

Here, we see a certain two-tailed fox laying on the blue comforter on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of the room in the house he now lived in by himself, the light of the sun peeking through closed shades and barely lighting up the beige walls.

Four months. Four long, agonizing months had passed since the war with the Metarex. Four months had passed since a certain auburn, twin-tailed fox had fallen in love with the plant-like alien known as Cosmo.

Four months had passed since he was forced to take her life to safe Mobius, his home planet.

The guilt from the act, no matter what greater good it was for, had been slowly eating away at the young fox like a parasite. Sleep was plagued with nightmares. The fox only ate enough to just get through the day. He was miserable, and no amount of his friends' attempts to cheer him up would work. Heck, not even the plant that had sprouted from the seed Cosmo left behind brought any comfort, even as he continued to take care of it.

Cosmo was the second –technically third- girl he had fallen for. And unlike… _her_… the alien had loved him back.

…

…

… Great. Just fantastic. Now he was thinking of _her_.

Tails' first love was… unrequited. Two years ago, back when he was only a six-year-old kit with the original Freedom Fighters, back when Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was insane, and in far worse shape than he is now, back when Eggman's nephew, Snively, was still around and kicking, Tails had met _her_. Twice.

The first time had been a set up by Eggman himself. Tails had found her and saved her on that island, then spent days with her, talking like they had liked each other. Then, it turned out that she was a robot, an "Auto-Automaton, Eggman had called her, built to lure him into a Roboticizer in her "den", and then turn him into a robot slave. He had escaped with his life, but his heart had been shattered.

Then, months after that, the _real_ vixen appeared, joining the Freedom Fighters under Sally Acorn, or "Aunt Sally" as Tails once called her. Yet, it was not Tails she had taken an interest in, but his mentor and best friend, Sonic the Hedgehog. Apparently, Tails was a couple years too young to have her interest, and she was closer to Sonic's age. Even so, the naïve kit could not have helped it but to have been jealous of his friend.

He later found out a horrible truth. She had no care for Sonic or for any of the other Freedom Fighters. She was only looking out for herself, even if it included betraying them to Sonic's inter-dimensional counterpart, the now green furred _Scourge _the Hedgehog.

Tails lifted a white gloved hand to his cheek in painful remembrance. _"You can't trust anybody."_ She had struck him when she told him this, no matter how much the at-the-time six year old had begged her to stay.

The twin-tailed fox sighed as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, standing up slowly. Then, Tails made his way to the kitchen, his feet hitting the floorboards with desolate thuds and his head held low.

He hated thinking about that backstabber, but he could not help it. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise… he still had a crush on that traitor.

After entering the kitchen –brightly lit by the sun's rays, for Cosmo's plant- and walking up to the refrigerator, he opened the door, searching for a way to get his mind off of Cosmo and _her_.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Tails sighed in out of character annoyance. It was probably Sally, Bunnie and Antoine, or perhaps even Sonic. He had already told them the last time, and the many, many times before that, to go away, but sometimes, they refused to listen. He just wanted to be left alone to wallow in his own misery, Chaos darn it!!

He slammed the door of the refrigerator shut, and then stomped through the halls toward the front door. "Whoever it is, I told you, I do NOT want anyone to visit me!! Stop trying to tell me that Cosmo's death was 'not my fault'!! It's painful enough without you guys bringing it up in an attempt to help!!"

With that, he swung open the door, an uncharacteristic snarl on his face and bags under his eyes. His angry expression, however, died into a look of shock upon seeing who it was at his door. He quickly back peddled, ready to slam the door into his guest's face. Too bad she already stuck her foot in the path, blocking him from shutting it.

A delicate red furred hand in a black, fingerless glove took hold of the edge of the door, and forced it back open, forcing Tails to look upon the blue eyes on the scowling face of the red-furred vixen that broke his heart. Her signature all-black outfit -consisting of a tummy top, pants/boots, long fingerless gloves, and studded belts- adorned her body. Her hair was in a fanned-out style, with her trademark yellow hair-bow.

Fiona Fox.

What in the _ninety-nine planes of the underworld _was SHE doing here?! She was supposed to be with Scourge or the Destructix mercenary squad, not here, standing in front of the broken fox that once hopelessly pined for her!!

Tails quickly began to scramble, turning to run for his room for some device to combat the vixen. It was a good idea with a major flaw. Fiona was older by almost twice his age. She was bigger, stronger, and faster than Tails, and furthermore, unlike the two-tailed fox, she seemed to be thinking clearly. Tails felt Fiona tackle him to the floor, preventing him from getting anywhere by pinning his shoulders with her hands. The twin-tailed vulpine began struggling, desperate to get out of his former crush's grip. He kicked and writhed, but could not break free.

"Stop struggling, Tails! I'm not here to fight!"

"Liar!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Yeah, right! You lied before! Why should I trust you? You could slit my throat at any moment!"

"Grr…"

Fiona growled in annoyance, turning Tails over to face her. "As tempting as it is, if I was going to kill you, I would have done so by now, you naïve little kit!"

"Then go ahead and kill me!"

Silence. Aside from a few small birds outside, it was complete silence. The vixen's scowl had lessened, but it was still there, along with some visible perplexity. She took in the features of Tails' face: the bags under his eyes, the tears staining the white fur on his cheeks, and the utterly defeated look in those blue orbs. "What?"

"Please," the fox begged, staring straight into the vixen's own gray-blue eyes as sobs escaped him. "Please just kill me so I can see Cosmo again…"

Tails suddenly felt a sharp sting on his face, on the very same cheek where Fiona had smacked him when she had first told him that he "could not trust anybody".

Fiona glared as she lowered her arm. "What in Mobius is wrong with you, Tails?! I came to find out why we haven't seen you in recent battles, and I find this whiny little kid!"

Tails shivered under that gaze. "You… you _always_ considered me a little kid…" His eyes burned with fury, the tears still spilling forth. "Why should you care anyway? Last I recall, you were more concerned with Scourge…"

The vixen turned her nose skyward as she lifted herself off of Tails. She crossed her arms as he eyes closed. "What goes on between Scourge and me is just that: between Scourge and me." One eye peeked open. "And who says I'm concerned? I just want to know why you aren't helping your Freedom Fighter buddies anymore…"

Now it was Tails' turn to stand up. His eyes narrowed at his former crush. "I fail to see how I and _my_ friends concern you…"

"Humor me," was her simple response. The two sets of blue eyes met again, neither seeming to give in. After a pregnant pause, Fiona spoke again. "Look, whatever happened, there is no way it can be _that_ bad…"

Again, there was a pregnant silence. That was it. Tails had had enough. "No. Way. It. Can. Be. That. BAD?! No way it can be that bad?!" His lips curled up into a snarl. "You have no idea what it was like, Fiona!!" Said vixen visibly recoiled with slightly wide eyes, not used to seeing the kit get so angry. "My friends and I traveled across the universe! We ended up having to side with Eggman to destroy some robots that wanted all animal life to be exterminated! I ended up falling in love with a beautiful alien, and it may have seemed that unlike you, this would have worked out!" Tails did not notice the vixen's cringe. "If it wasn't for the Metarex leader, Cosmo and I probably would have gotten married when we came back to Mobius. BUT NO!! He had to interfere! He had to force Cosmo to fuse herself to him to weaken him so we would stand a chance!"

At first, it seemed Tails was done with his rant, but then, he screamed in Fiona's face. "AND THE WORST PART IS THAT I HAD TO BE THE ONE TO KILL HER!!! I HAD TO KILL THE GIRL I LOVED TO SAVE THE GALAXY!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE, FIONA FOX, YOU BACKSTABBING BITCH!!!!"

That was the first time Miles "Tails" Prower had ever used an Earthling insult, or any profanity at all. Fiona herself could only gawk, slack-jawed, at the younger vulpine. Never, in his two years of knowing her, had Tails insulted the older vixen so strongly. Not waiting for any reply, the two-tailed fox retreated, running into the confines of his room as he slammed the door shut. He was unaware of the thoughts running through the "backstabbing bitch's" head.

Tails threw himself on the bed, crying his eyes out. It was not fair! Nothing in life was fair! Not even the traitor was considering taking his life now! His teary eyes looked over to that picture, the last thing he had to remember Cosmo by, aside from her seed. Even through his blurry vision, he could see her image smiling out at him from the photograph, their friends –and Tails himself- all grouped around the Seedrian. "Cosmo…"

After what felt like hours, but was actually minutes, Tails heard the doorknob turn, then the door itself creak open. He did not need to look to see Fiona come in. Why was she still here, anyway? She claimed she was not going to finally kill him after the three years of conflict… so why? … Perhaps it was just another lie… "Why, Fiona? Why can't you just leave me alone…? My feelings never stopped you before…"

He felt a new set of weight press into the mattress as the vixen sat down next to his broken form, her own fluffy red, cream-tipped tail draping over his legs. What was she-?

The two tailed fox's mind nearly froze as feeling a hand press onto his back. "It's not just this dead girl that's making you cry, is it, Tails?" The hand began to rub the kit's back. "You poor, poor kit… Even after all I've done, you still think of the good times you had with that robot…"

"You don't need to remind me of your lack of interest in me, Fiona…" he replied scornfully as he buried his face in a pillow. "I know I'm just 'some naïve little kit'…"

"So true…" the vixen responded. "But…" Before Tails could even think of protesting, Fiona lifted him up and turned him around to face her. There was a frown on her face… Was that a look of regret in her eyes? One of her hands went up to his cheek, the one she had hit both only a minute ago and three years ago. "You're not the only one with regrets, little guy." Tails gave her a confused look with his still-tearful expression. "Don't get me wrong, I still find being a 'bad girl' fun. I just… Well, I could have done it without hurting a certain six year old kit… I'm sorry for what you went through, alright?"

Tails shook his head in reply. "It's not alright! You can't possibly mean that! These past years, even when you were with the Freedom Fighters, you never cared about what anyone thought except for Scourge! You never showed any sign of caring for me!"

Fiona gave a smirk as she released the fox. "Well, I care now. Get used to it!"

"No you don't! You're using that mocking smirk!" he yelled out at the red vixen.

Fiona returned his yell with a swift knuckle to the younger fox's cranium. He clutched the spot, not expecting the sharp jab. "Listen, Tails, and listen well. I know how idiotic and cliché it sounds, but you HAVE to move on with your life! You moved on after I went to Scourge, this girl should be no different!"

"But-!"

"I'm not done!" Fiona interrupted, silencing Tails with a glare. "If this 'Cosmo' girl was so much better than me in your head," she poked his forehead for emphasis, "then why the heck would you think she would want you to die to 'be reunited' with her?! From my understanding, she died to save YOUR life! Suicide would be spitting all over her memory!"

Tails cringed at that, and then looked down to the floor. Slowly, however, his gaze began to drift to the picture. To be specific, his gaze drifted to the image of Cosmo's face.

Fiona followed Tail's gaze, raising an eyebrow at the photo. "Since the plant thing looks more feminine, I'm guessing that's your dead girlfriend?" She saw Tails cringe and nod. Fiona smirked in response as she patted the younger fox's head. "I'll say this much, Tails… You have good taste in women when it comes to looks. If only you had been older…"

Tails shook off a blush that was trying to rise up through his fur… but… the comment had caused a weak chuckle to escape him. However, he wasn't completely happy yet. "Um… Fiona…?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't hit me or anything, but could I… could I please have a hug?"

Fiona Fox gave no immediate answer, just staring at Tails with a frown and a raise eyebrow.

"Right," the two tailed fox began as he looked down at his twiddling white gloved hands. "Sorry…"

Then, he felt a pair of soft, furry arms wrap around him and pull him into a hug. His face was pressed against Fiona's chest. "I'll tell you what, Tails." He looked up, seeing the vixen smile down at him. "I'm going to make a promise to you. From now on, I promise I will be a friend to you outside of the fights between Destructix and the Freedom Fighters, alright?"

Tails seemed to consider it, and then nodded, hugging back as he pressed himself closer to the black-clad vixen. He did not know whether Fiona would keep this promise or if she was just going to backstab him the next day, but currently, he could not care less. For the first time in a long while, the crushing weight on his heart had been lifted. Miles "Tails" Prower was content.

"Thank you, Fiona."

**~FIN~**

* * *

_**The absolute HARDEST part of this story was trying –I think I failed tremendously- to keep Fiona in character while having her show care for the broken Tails. I mean, from what very little I know about the Archie comics, Fiona never truly gave a crap about Tails' feelings, even when she was considered good… Anyway, I know that, in canon, Fiona is an utter bitch, but I do get tired of hearing it. Plus, I get tired of fics in which either Cosmo comes back from the dead or Tails goes Woobie Destroyer of Worlds on everyone.**_

_**However, I did not know where this would go, so I settle for just a one-shot. Any scenario that follows –be it her actually liking him and abandoning Scourge, backstabbing Tails again, merely becoming a big sister figure still aligned with Scourge, etc.- is up to the readers' imaginations.**_

**_Also, yes, I am aware that the mentions of Snively and Eggman do not follow their canon existences._**

_**I am not continuing this, as I know it would turn out horribly, due to my lack of knowledge over the Archie comics.**_

_**I request that any and all readers review, please. I am aware that flames will probably occur, but please don't flame me.**_


End file.
